AN agency benefiting from the 3BA Winter Appeal, Anglicare Victoria Ballarat continues to work through these cold, COVID months to provide emergency relief to people in need.<\/p>\n
Emergency relief coordinator, Naomi Stephenson said clients currently tend to call ahead, whether new or regular visitors, and then arrive at Anglicare\u2019s Bakery Hill base between 10.30am to 12pm, Monday to Thursday, where they specialise in food assistance.<\/p>\n
\u201cUsually we have a mini supermarket set up, so a person would present at the front door, come in, and be able to select what items of food they can use at home. If it\u2019s a single person, that\u2019s 22 items of food, and that increases, the more they have in their family,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cInitially when COVID started, we had our usual, expected number of clients. During that time, we were no longer able to have clients come into the building and pack their own hampers, and the City of Ballarat started working with us in delivering our own pre-packaged hampers to people.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re still doing that, but only once a week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sourcing fresh produce and non-perishables from supermarkets, public donations, Foodbank and SecondBite, hampers are bundled with breakfast and dinner items, and some staples.<\/p>\n
While those in need are encouraged to access the mini supermarket monthly, Anglicare has a stock of donated knitted items, blankets and warm coats to distribute.<\/p>\n
Annually at this time, the agency would be receiving further warm clothes through the 3BA Winter Appeal, but 2020 is no normal year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are still going to get blankets, but we\u2019re not receiving second-hand items we\u2019d usually get because we\u2019re being super careful,\u201d Ms Stephenson said.<\/p>\n
Each day Anglicare will see a client who has never had to access a service like theirs before.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt reminds us how awkward it can be for them. They\u2019re quite embarrassed and it\u2019s humbling,\u201d Ms Stephenson said.<\/p>\n
A community breakfast is served at Lydiard Street\u2019s Anglican Diocesan Centre, Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 10am. Sausages, toasties, hot coffees and more are available for takeaway.<\/p>\n
Community development worker, Kim Boyd encourages people to give to the 3BA Winter Appeal if they can, where warm items or food will be evenly distributed between them, the Salvos, Vinnies and Uniting.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know what need is around the corner, and it\u2019s not just us saying that, a lot of people are predicting it. It\u2019s the calm before the storm,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
AN agency benefiting from the 3BA Winter Appeal, Anglicare Victoria Ballarat continues to work through these cold, COVID months to provide emergency relief to people in need. Emergency relief coordinator, Naomi Stephenson said clients currently tend to call ahead, whether new or regular visitors, and then arrive at Anglicare\u2019s Bakery Hill base between 10.30am to […]<\/p>\n